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Review of Basic Telecommunications Services CRTC Telecom Notice of Consultation 2015-134 CYBERA Calgary Office: Suite 200, 3512 - 33 St NW, Calgary, AB T2N 2A6 T: 403-210-5333 ​ ​ Edmonton Office: 3-43, Computing Science Centre, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2E8 ​ ​ @cybera [email protected] www.cybera.ca 1 Introduction Cybera is a not­for­profit, technology­neutral agency responsible for accelerating high­tech adoption in Alberta. One of Cybera’s core roles is the operation of Alberta’s Research and Education Network, called CyberaNet. This is the dedicated network for unmetered, not­for­profit traffic used by Alberta’s schools, ​ post­secondary institutions and business incubators to aid innovation, enterprise and ingenuity. Cybera receives both provincial and federal government funding to spearhead pilot projects that improve ​ efficiencies and the competitiveness of Canadian institutions and businesses, and support international­level research. It is guided by a strategic leadership team, and is home to some of the world’s top cloud and networking experts, who work together to build cloud infrastructure, data storage, and advanced networking solutions. Drawing on this expertise and public service mandate, Cybera is pleased to provide the following response to the CRTC Telecom Notice of Consultation 2015­134 regarding the review of Canada’s basic telecommunications services. It is our view that broadband Internet be considered a basic st telecommunication 21 ​ century service, and should be affordable and accessible to all Canadians ­ equal in ​ th importance to the touch­tone telephone service of the 20 ​ century. ​ The importance of this review cannot be understated. It represents a critical turning point in Canada’s digital economy. To ensure that Canada is able to take a lead in tomorrow’s marketplace of ideas and services, we need the right resources and policies in place to build and support our digital infrastructure. Very soon, all Canadians will need the capability to transmit gigabits per second of data, and process terabytes of information. A large portion of this response will focus on minimizing the digital divide to ensure economic and social viability for all Canadians. Redefining broadband as a “basic service” would obligate carriers to deliver services to geographically dispersed and sparsely populated regions. However, it is also important to recognize that rural and remote residents are not the only Canadians experiencing frustration related to connectivity. Our response will also focus on potential funding mechanisms to incentivize and support deployment of modern telecommunication services to all underserved sectors. Finally, we will demonstrate how a strong model supporting structural separation can increase efficiencies, reduce duplicate infrastructure, protect public­interest infrastructure, and create an open, accessible and service­based solution. CYBERA Calgary Office: Suite 200, 3512 - 33 St NW, Calgary, AB T2N 2A6 T: 403-210-5333 ​ ​ Edmonton Office: 3-43, Computing Science Centre, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2E8 ​ ​ @cybera [email protected] www.cybera.ca 2 Canadians’ evolving needs for telecommunications services Canadians are using telecommunications services to fulfill many social, economic, and cultural needs in today’s digital economy. 1. For Canadians to meaningfully participate and contribute to the digital economy, it is imperative that 1 2 sufficient digital infrastructure exists to be competitive and foster innovation. Multiple s​ tudies , show that ​ broadband has a positive effect on a nation’s GDP and household income, as it increases personal productivity and allows for more flexible working and learning opportunities, including home­based business and education resources. 2. Unfortunately, many Canadians still do not have the broadband connections needed to access necessary telecommunication services. Minimizing the current digital divide requires better, more affordable connectivity for all Canadians, regardless of location. It is a question of both price and availability. This is especially true for Canadians living in rural and remote regions where barriers include: availability (lack of access and choice), quality (lack of high­speed coupled with capacity), and price (unaffordability due to lack of competition). 3. The 200 plus interventions by private citizens on Notice of Consultation 2015­134 reflect Canadians’ frustration with their inability to meaningfully participate in the digital economy. A sampling of these complaints demonstrates the issues being faced by Canadians looking to innovate or grow their businesses: a. Intervenor #69, Stephanie Snow, describes an inability to work from home or perform job interviews via Skype. b. Intervenor #130, Diane Wood, describes poor and prohibitively expensive access to 5 Megabits­per­second (Mbps) download speeds, which constrains her ability to perform tasks urban Canadians take for granted, such as applying for jobs and accessing government services. c. Intervenor #22, J. Tesolin, as a web developer, complains of low upload speeds. d. Intervenor #25, T. Singh, a small business owner in Mississauga, describes low upload speeds limiting his business’ ability to run the applications it requires. e. Intervenor #55, Stephen Schwartz, describes an inability to access modern high­quality (data intensive) web content. 4. Canada’s rural communities face a serious challenge in maintaining their economic viability as residents migrate to urban centres to access better connectivity tools. Fast broadband is increasingly being considered a necessity by homebuyers.3 Without careful consideration, the rural­urban divide will continue to grow. It is critical that rural and remote residents be given the same opportunities as urban Canadians with respect to the adoption of Internet services. In his 2013 article on the Status of Broadband Connectivity in Canada, Nordicity partner Stuart Jack noted that: “In general, citizens in rural ​ ​ areas might obtain 2 Mbps broadband Internet access service over wireline services (such as DSL and 1 Copenhagen Economics.“The socio­economic value of digital infrastructures”. Danish Energy Association (April 16, ​ ​ 2010). 7. ​ 2 Ericsson, Arthur D. Little, and Chalmers University of Technology. “Socioeconomic effects of Broadband Speed”. ​ September 2013. 10­20. 3 Karissa Gail. “Would you move to the town of Olds for its Gigabit Age Internet speed?” Calgary Herald, May 29, ​ ​ ​ ​ 2015. CYBERA Calgary Office: Suite 200, 3512 - 33 St NW, Calgary, AB T2N 2A6 T: 403-210-5333 ​ ​ Edmonton Office: 3-43, Computing Science Centre, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2E8 ​ ​ @cybera [email protected] www.cybera.ca 3 Cable modems). Citizens in remote areas...can often only obtain 2 Mbps via satellite technology, and often at much higher costs than their urban counterparts.”4 ​ 5. The Internet economy made up 4.1% of the G­20 nations’ GDP in 2010, and is expected to reach $4.2 trillion in the G­20 economies by 20165. The volume of global data created daily is 2.5 Exabytes (or 2.5 billion Gigabytes)6, and this number is growing quickly. Global IP traffic is growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 23%7 from 2014­2019, thanks to the rise of technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and sensor networks. Over the next ten years, the majority of digital infrastructure solutions will require significant investment in order to meet the needs of future generations and flexibly accommodate disruptive technologies. 6. Canadians require more bandwidth for activities that require high­speeds (such as telecommuting, telehealth and videoconferencing), above­the­network services (such as cloud storage of digital files) and as more devices become Internet­enabled. Infrastructure considerations should not only focus on networks, but also the data that travels over those networks, including the ability to store and manage big data, devices needed to access telecommunication services, and the compute power available in the cloud itself. Examples of important telecommunication services needed to participate in the digital economy include: telepresence robots for remote working and virtual tourism, telehealth, distance­learning, data analysis sharing and processing, e­commerce, software and video game development, photo and video sharing, contributing to global work and research projects using shared software, and open network technologies and topologies. 7. The sectors these services impact include: a. Health Care: Transmission and sharing of medical data and imagery in real­time; direct ​ ​ consultations between health care professionals and patients in all regions and across all income brackets. b. K­12 Education: Remote collaborations between schools and classrooms; video exploration of ​ faraway areas; developing understandings of new computer skills for future employment. c. Distance Learning: Accessing video classrooms, virtual teaching environments and training ​ applications; videoconferencing between urban/rural/at­home students and specialist teachers. d. Energy and Environment: Encouraging telecommuting to reduce carbon emissions from shared ​ offices / workplace commuting; new monitoring tools for improved environmental preservation. e. E­Government: Offering more efficient access to government services through online portals; ​ Increasing civic participation in government planning; opening up government data for the creation of new, convenient applications. f. Public Safety: Enabling

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